Freeway
by Dru619
Summary: Mark and Roger find an 18 year old runaway ::OC:: who's hurt and lost on the freeway. Ch.4 up as of 12.28
1. Cold

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone is having a happy holiday so far! I am new to writing RENT fics. This is my first one actually bows I have written for before but haven't so in a loooong time. So since this is my first RENT fic...comments are always nice! So Angel isn't dead in this...yet and this will more then likely be Roger/Mimi and Maureen/Joanne pairings. OK? Everyone with me so far? Alright no requirements from you guys. Just...well read and review! And enjoy!

Dru619

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Freeway

Chapter 1

Freeway. New York mostly consists of long alley-ways and busy streets. Not a lot of freeways. But the one freeway that was evident just outside the city was where they had found her. Mark and Roger. Both were antsy, ready to go venture out on into something more then their apartment. Something more then meeting Mimi again for coffee. Or hanging out with Collins and Angel who seemed more caught up into each other these days to really pay much mind to them anyway.

The date was December 20. It was cold. The night before another storm had rolled through and dumped snow on the busy city and its occupants. Unfortunately for Roger and Mark they had been caught without any heat. Mimi too. She had come down with a nasty cold because of it and Joanne and Maureen had taken on the responsibility of taking care of her back at their place.

Roger was perched up on the side of the couch, lazily strumming a riff on his guitar in an effort to give his hands something to do and to warm up.

"Hey," Mark was in the kitchen, his elbows leaning up against the counter. "We should go do something. I haven't filmed anything but the coffee house in a long time."

"Where are we going to go?" Roger asked, halfway skeptical as his fingers did their own thing. Mark shrugged.

"Somewhere."

"It's too cold to exist. Let alone get up and actually exert energy for no apparent reason," he murmured letting his eyes slip shut for a second before opening them again. All he saw was Mimi. And that was all he saw these days when his brain wasn't in use. Which was more often then not. Mimi was like…his brains' screensaver. "Let's go see Mimi." This earned a groan from Mark.

"We just saw Mimi…3 hours ago! She's fine okay? Joanne and Maureen have heat. And as much as I hate to admit it, she's in good hands," Mark shoved his numb fingers into his coat pockets.

"That's where I want to go," Roger huffed stubbornly.

"No," Mark said simply. "I've never seen you so…caught up before. I need to get you out of the city for a while." It was Roger's turn to groan.

"Forget it," he sighed. "I'm staying here."

"Oh will you come on? Not that far out of the city. Not even really out of the city per-say. More just away from the busy part. Walk with me down to the freeway."

"The freeway? Mark what the hell is at the freeway?" Roger asked, setting his guitar aside. Mark shrugged, picking up his small camera from the kitchen counter.

"Looks pretty in the snow I guess." Roger thought for a minute then stood up, his mind made up.

"Fine. We'll go down the freeway. But if I get frostbite it's all your fault." Mark smiled and clapped him on the back.

"I am waaay ahead of you on that one. If I get frostbite I'll have to kick my own ass." Roger smiled. A walk couldn't be that bad.

Could it?

_Freeway©Dru619_


	2. Stranger in the Snow

**Chapter 2**

"This is so stupid."

"Shut up," Mark held his camera up to his eye and peered through the lens, only catching patches of streetlight in the dark flurry of snow. Roger shoved his hands further into his pockets after pulling up the collar a bit on his jacket.

"How long are we going to be out here freezing?" he asked. He had already decided to go see Mimi once they had gotten back. Mark turned to glare at him. His nose was pink and raw from the cold. He sighed.

"Just a little longer okay?" he turned again to film some more of the freeway. It was remotely quite. Everyone was home and safe for the night. Roger decided to sit on a nearby wall.

"Hey Mark," he called after a second, catching a glimpse of something moving along the concrete median. It was coming closer. With the good of New York came the bad. The crime-filled part of it. And that was all that was going through Roger's mind as he panicked. "MARK!" he shouted. Mark's head snapped up only to meet a pair of dull, sick-looking turquoise eyes. It was a girl. She was very small. But she was beautiful. Her brown hair had subtle patches of blonde streaks. Her face was gentle, her expression soft. But she looked painfully sick.

"Hey," Mark chocked after finding his voice. Roger was at his side in a heartbeat.

"Who are you?" Roger added watching uneasily at the way she swayed. She didn't say anything, her gaze only merely switched over to stare at Roger. Then she collapsed into Mark. He reacted quickly and caught her.

"Wow," he said his knees in the snow. "She's really hot." Roger rolled his eyes and knelt down next to him.

"Usually you're the one having to tell me 'now's not the time'."

"What…? No, not like that stupid. She's heat hot. Feel," Mark took Rogers hand and led it to the teenager's neck. He quickly pulled away. He didn't feel right touching her. Or even being in her presence. It was all too weird for him. Mark was right, she was hot.

"Look," Roger tugged gently on her arm. There was a long cut in what had once been a thin windbreaker. It couldn't have given her much warmth if any at all. Underneath, her white skin had been punctured, a long cut had been indented and matted with dry blood.

"What are we going to do Roger? We better take her with us," he said. Roger's stomach churned slightly. He didn't feel right about it. But leaving her wasn't an option either.

"Okay," he said softly, cradling her in his arms. "Let's go then."


	3. Sick

Thank you to all who are reading! I'm glad your enjoying it so far.

Dru619

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the RENT characters. They all belong to the late Jonathan Larson. I just like taking them out and playing with them every once and a while ;-)

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**Chapter 3**

"This isn't good," Roger finally said after a long silence. The girl from the freeway was laid out on the couch. All the blankets they owned were piled on top of her. Mark was able to get a meager fire going.

"I know," was all Mark could say. He took off his jacket and tucked it on top of the girl. He stepped back and stood next to Roger. "What are we going to do?" Roger didn't know.

How was he supposed to answer? She didn't have a chance of surviving! She had obviously been exposed to the elements for too long. Her cheeks were extremely pale. Her pretty hair looked weird on her head. It was matted at the bottom, damp from the snow. Roger felt guilty with his next remark.

"I don't want her to die here," he whispered softly. He felt his throat tighten a bit. "We should...shouldn't have gone down to the damn freeway." Mark turned to look at him.

"You're not blaming this on me," he snapped slightly hurt. Roger sighed.

"I'm not blaming anyone for anything so calm down. All I'm saying is that…she's too sick Mark. She's going to die."

"She can't die," Mark said softly. "I'm not going to let her."

"Fate has different plans Mark." Roger turned on his heel and tightened his jacket around himself.

"Where are you going?" Mark asked, kneeling down next to the girl, gently stroking her forehead.

"See Mimi," he answered simply.

"Get your jacket back off of 'Freeway'," Roger paused here to nod over at the girl. "…before going to bed alright?" Mark sighed.

"Yeah. Tell Mimi hi alright?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"Who the hells ringing at 10:00 at ni…oh it's you," Joanne opened the door to see Roger standing out in the cold.

"Who did you want? Santa?" Roger waited for Joanne to invite him in.

"Very funny smartass. Come on, Mimi'll be happy to see you," Joanne tugged gently at his arm.

"Where's Maureen?"

"Sleep already," Joanne said through a yawn. "I guess all that energy during the day tires her out. I was about to myself but…she's been whimperin' a lot. I thought it was better not to leave her. She's still achy. She won't admit it but she cries a little anytime she moves." Roger could only assume she was talking about Mimi. He hated himself for not being there with her. Instead he had run out with Mark to the damn freeway and picked up a runaway.

Maureen and Joanne had done really well for themselves. They were in a little better part of the city. The walk was longer but no one complained. They were happy at least someone was going somewhere; doing something with their lives.

"There she is," Joanne murmured softly. Mimi was on the couch, whimpering up a storm until she caught site of Roger.

"Roger," she squeaked softly.

"Hey Mimi," Roger was quick to kneel down to her. He felt sad looking into her tired eyes. Obvious pain was behind them. Mimi had stopped using. With Roger's help, she had been completely clean for almost 4 months. She got sick a lot more. This was the first bad bout of it in a long time though. "Are…are you hurting?" Mimi frowned a bit.

"No."

"I don't believe you baby," he whispered softly with a small grin, bringing his hand over to gently rub her cheek.

"Yes," she whispered softly, a hint of tears in her voice. "Please don't leave me."

"Never," he whispered. Joanne cleared her throat from behind him. Roger had forgotten she was still in the room.

"If it's okay with Joanne," he added.

"Yeah it's good. You got her? I'm going to bed." Roger nodded. Joanne leaned over to give Mimi a kiss on the head then squeezed Roger's shoulder before disappearing out of the room.

"Joanne…set up the bed in the guest room for me. But…it hurts too much to move," she whispered softly, running her hand through Roger's hair. He felt her hot forehead.

"Let me carry you? I need to tell you what Mark and I found." She surprised him with a small giggle.

"Do I want to know?"

He nuzzled into the side of her head.

"You definitely do," he whispered near her ear.

"So…it all started when Mark convinced me to go down to the freeway with him…"


	4. Sick P2

Hey all! The reviews mean a lot so thanks again.

Dru

PS. This chapter is for all the Mimi/Roger fluff fans out there (cough-me-cough)

Enjoy ;-)

**Chapter 4**

Roger was awoken to the sound of Mimi's breathing quickening against his neck. He opened his eyes, giving them a couple of seconds to adjust to the dark.

"Mimi?" he whispered softly. "You awake?" She didn't answer. But when he rolled over to face her, her eyes were open. She gave him a weak smile, lifting her hand up to stroke his head.

"Bad dream?" she whispered.

"No. You," he answered bringing her hand down and planting a kiss on the back of it. "You're breathing pretty hard."

"I'm alright," Mimi shrugged it off even though it was obvious she was working pretty hard in order for her chest to rise and fall. Roger was quiet, absentmindedly finding ways to comfort Mimi. Running his hand through her hair, whispering softly into her ear, drawing gentle patterns into her back, anything he could think of to lull her back to sleep. Soon she was asleep again and he let out a sigh of relief. Her body would need a lot of rest to get better. She was still hot.

Roger didn't release Mimi but instead rested his chin on top of her head and closed his eyes again. He wondered how Mark was fairing with Freeway.

**9:00 AM**

"So…what were you saying? You brought home a puppy or something?"

Mark rolled his eyes.

"No. A girl."

"Hmmmm," Collin's tipped his chair back a bit, giving Mark a somewhat quizzical look. "And she's sick?"

"Yes! Damn why is it so hard for you to grasp this concept!" Mark was pacing across the floor of Angel and Collins' house. It was a small place like Joanne's and Maureen's. Just perfect for the two of them. After a lot of debating Mark decided to leave the girl from the freeway alone while he went to get Collins. He had a level head on his shoulders. Mark figured he'd know what to do. But he wasn't proving to be a lot of help. Collins laughed a bit.

"Mark, what possessed you to bring her home in the first place?" he asked him, leaning forward and giving him his full attention now.

"She didn't really leave me with much of a choice!" he grumbled.

"What, she follow you?" Collins asked, trying to understand.

"No," Mark sighed. "She collapsed into me. I wasn't about to leave her there to die."

"And now you think she'll probably end up dieing at the loft anyway?"

"That's what Roger says. I don't know what's going to happen. She hasn't woken up since last night. I should probably be getting back," Mark looked down at his watch then stood up, tightening his striped scarf around his neck.

"I'll come," Collins stood up. "Get a look at this 'Freeway' character."

"And Angel?" Mark asked.

"She actually went down to see Mimi."

"Yeah that's where Roger's at," Mark sighed. "I hope she'll be okay."

"She will," Collins clapped Mark on the back and followed him out onto the snowy sidewalk. "She's Mimi Marquez. She's braved death already. And she's got enough will in her to do it again if necessary."

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Mimi stretched and yawned dramatically. She reminded Roger of a cat lounging in the sun. After sleeping for a couple of more hours, Mimi was feeling a little bit better. Everyone was seated in the living room. Joanne was leafing through the newspaper and Maureen had convinced Angel to play some sort of dice game on the coffee table. Roger cuddled with Mimi on the couch, his head resting on her shoulder. 

"Hey, you think Mark needs help with that girl?" Mimi whispered. "You were saying she was in pretty bad shape." Roger shrugged gently.

"He seemed to have things under control. She pretty much just fainted. I'm sure she just slept the night and went home already." Mimi looked up at him skeptically.

"I'm so sure!" she giggled. She patted his leg. "We should go see him."

"Nope. I'm not letting you leave this house until your fevers gone," Joanne said sternly, not even looking up from her paper.

"Joaaaaane!" Mimi whined.

"Meeeeeeemi!" Joanne mimicked. "I'm sorry girly. That's the way it's gotta be."

"You'll be thanking her later," Angel said, resting her chin on her fist as Maureen rolled the dice and they rolled off the coffee table.

"Oo! I win!" she squealed.

"Does that game even have any actual rules?" Roger smiled at the flustered look on Angel's face as she picked up the dice and tossed them back at Maureen.

"Yeah. Maureen wins no matter what," she sighed.

"So…are we like going to be stuck here til Mimi gets better or what?" Maureen tugged on Joanne.

"Maureen!" Joanne kicked her gently. Mimi sighed heavily.

"Plllllease can I go with Roger?" Mimi begged.

"No," Joanne stated. "I'm not changing my mind Mimi. And honey, why don't you go take a walk with Angel?" Angel groaned. Maureen hopped up.

"OK!" she grabbed hold of Angel's arm and tugged her towards the door. Once Mimi, Roger, and Joanne were alone, Joanne finally looked up from the newspaper. Mimi was nuzzling Roger's cheek lovingly and he had his hand rested on her waist.

"I'm guessing you're not going to go see if Mark needs any help?" Joanne asked. Roger lifted his head from Mimi for a second.

"I'm not leaving her again," he said. "Mimi stays I stay." Joanne opened her mouth to say something but could only reside on a smile as Mimi poked Roger affectionately in the ribs and he jumped a little. She laughed and tossed Roger the phone. "At least call him?" Roger rolled his eyes playfully as he caught it.

"Fiiiine."

**9:32 AM**

Maureen was spinning around on the sidewalk, catching snowflakes in her open mouth.

"Snowflakes are pretty," Angel sighed as one landed on her nose. "Each one is so intricately designed." Maureen turned her attention to Angel, slightly annoyed.

"Hey you know what we should do?" she linked her arm through Angel's.

"I'm afraid to ask."

"Go meet that girl Marky found."

"Hon, I think that….,"

"You think too much!" Maureen exclaimed. "Let's just go please?" Angel sighed.

"Alright but if…,"

"Ya!" Maureen tugged her along the slippery sidewalk, wet flakes still falling on their heads. Angel wasn't quite sure why she had agreed but halfway to the loft, Maureen still babbling up a storm, she figured it out.

When Joanne was absent, Maureen needed a partner in crime.


End file.
